Headed lumber-rule



(N0 Model.)

EQ TLLUFKIN.

HEADED- LUMBER RULE.

Patented Feb, 13. 1883.

W2 Z22 (SE65 71 III,

VIII/III N. PETERS. FbulDLRhwgx-apher. Wuhingion, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD LUFKIN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

HEADED LUMBER-RULE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,279, dated February 13, 1883.

Application filed December 8, 1882. (No model.)

, improvement in the metallic head of an elastic board and log rule; and the object thereof is to render the flexible wood part of the ruleless liable to break than this class of rules now in use. p

The invention is an improvement on. a board and log rule for which a patent was granted to me the 7th day of April, 1874.

The improvement in rules above alluded to is fully set forth and described in the follow- .ing specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of the same, in which-.-

Figure 1 represents a side view of the rule, having applied thereto the improved head. Fig. 2. is an edge view. Fig. 3 is a'view of the face of the head. Fig. etis a view of the inner side of the head, partly in'section.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several views.

In consequence of the rough exercise and continuous use to which my patented 'rule above alluded to is subjected in turning over and moving boards and planks, the wood part or body of the rule'is liable tobreak in a splintered fracture, rendering the rule of no further practical value.

The violent use of the rule above referred to is due to the lumbermen who, by a peculiar sudden jerk and bending of the implement, catch one of the long thin edges of the head of the rule under the edge of the board or plank for turning it over for better inspection, which causes'a severe strain fiatwise on the rule, so that the wood sometimes cracks andsprawls along the face of' the rule, thereby spoiling it for further use, as aforesaid.

To avoid this liability of the rule to be broken is the purpose of the improvement the subject-matter of this specification, and which consists in making the head of the rule of a different shape than that of my old one.

The plate forming the face of the head of my old rule is an oblong square, the beveled edges of which project beyond the socket, especially the two sides facing the fiat sidesof the rule, and which two sides of the plate were generally used for turning a board or plank and for moving them to the pile, which, as a consequence, brought the strain in lifting the plank transversely through the thickness of the body of the rule instead of through the width of it, as in thismy improved head of therule. As shown in the drawings, said head consists of the socket A, in which is inserted and secured the thin flexible elastic body or rule B. To the socket is fixed the head-plate G, the projecting sides a. and b of which areparallel and narrower than the samein my old rule. Hence the sides a and 11 cannot be inserted under the edge of a board orplank far enough to obtain a good hold for lifting it, but which the sides of my old rule were capableof doing. It will be observed that the ends of the plate form an angle terminating in the points b and c, which may have a downward tendency, as

seen in Fig. 1. My old rule had no such angle.

and downward tendency. or downward-tendin g points; but, on the contrary, the ends were straight and parallel, as are the sides a and b. The projecting ends were also narrower, and therefore had less hold on the edge of the board or plauk' than the angle and pointed ends of the head shown in'the drawings.)

The plate 0 of the head may be set at any desired angle with relation to the rule or head.

On using the rule provided with the improved head the lumber-man will naturally use the sharp-pointed angular ends of the head when he'desires to turn over a board or a plank, instead of using the sides aand b.

It will be apparent that on using the pointed ends for the purpose specified the strain upon the rule will be exerted upon it edgewise--that is to say, in the direction of the width of the rule-as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, instead of through the thickness, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, so that the rule is not liable to be broken, as theresistance to the strain is greater as the width of the rule exceeds the thickness.

It will be equally'as convenient for the lumberman to strike the pointed end of the head into or under the edge of a plank, as his grip on the handle D of the rule need not be loos cned or the implement turned in his hand for that purpose. Hence he will choose to use the pointed ends of the head instead of the sides, for reason that the points will have a stronger hold on the plank than will the sides. They, being much narrower, will be likely to slip oil, whereas the pointed ends will hold fast while the board or plank is being turned over or moved along from the pile.

From the above it will be obvious that the stick or body of the rule need not be subjected to any severe strainflat-wise therewith,and can therefore be used without causing it to fracture and become useless, as is the case with my old rule.

EDWARD T. LUFKIN.

Witnesses:

J. H. BURRIDGE, W. H. BURRIDGE. 

